Letter 3

April 2, 2008

… In my heart there rings a melody, there rings a melody of love (Roth, 1924).” Valentines Day is past, but spring will soon be upon us with leaves and flowers and twitterpation – blind consumption with affairs of the heart. The Bible says we’re to have many things in our hearts in addition to music (Ephesians 5: 19). Biblical affairs of the heart are for Christians to enjoy and exhibit to attract others to Christ (Titus 2: 10c, 11). Colossians 3: 15-17 mentions three positive heart-dwellers (go ahead and read that passage as well as all other scriptures as they’re cited).
First, Colossians 3: 15-17 says to let the peace of Christ rule. Jesus came to make peace between man and God (Romans 3: 23; Isaiah 59: 1, 2; Colossians 1: 19-23; Ephesians 2: 14-18). A natural by-product of that is peace among men, even with our enemies (try staying mad at someone while you pray for them – Matthew 5: 43-48). Worldly peace is precarious, but Jesus’ peace guards and protects us because, although the world seems to be falling apart around us, he’s overcome the world making those problems temporary (John 14: 27; 16: 33; Philippians 4: 4-9; 1 Peter 1: 3-9; Isaiah 26: 3; 32: 17; Romans 5: 1-5; Psalm 37: 37). When the world sees that the peace of Christ rules in our hearts and flows from there as a fruit of the Spirit, they’ll be attracted to him, allowing us to also express his true love, making every day an affair of the heart (Matthew 12: 33-35; Galatians 5: 22-25; John 13: 34, 35).
Next, Colossians 3: 15-17 says to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. Jesus told his Apostles that the Spirit would guide them into all truth, reminding them of all Jesus’ teachings (John 14: 25, 26; 16: 12-15). Today, the word of Christ comes to us as we study the Bible for ourselves and the Spirit helps us understand Jesus’ message (2 Timothy 3: 15-17; 2: 15; 1 Corinthians 2: 9-16). Later, the Spirit reminds us of Jesus’ words, just when we need them; but, we can’t be reminded of anything we haven’t studied beforehand (Deuteronomy 4: 9-14; Job 22: 21, 22).
Otherwise, there’s no new revelation (Hebrews 1: 1-3; 2: 1-4; 2 Peter 1: 3-21; 1 John 1: 1-4; 4: 1-6; Jude 3). These reminders help us walk righteously, knowing good from evil, and practicing the good so we’ll be ready to answer whoever sees our good works and asks about our lifestyle (Psalm 37: 30, 31; 119: 11, 105; Hebrews 5: 11-14; Matthew 5: 14-16; 1 Peter 2: 11, 12; 3: 15, 16, Matthew 10: 18-20).
Then, again, we’ll show that we have the love of God by showing our love for our fellow man, which always includes meeting the spiritual, eternal need for salvation that should be a constant affair of the heart for every Christian (1 John 3: 10, 14, 16-18; John 3: 16; Ephesians 5: 1, 2).
Finally, Colossians 3: 15-17 says to have gratitude in our hearts to God. With all the good God’s done for us, beginning with the opportunity for salvation and the unimaginable prospects for eternity, we should be grateful (Romans 5: 6-11; 8: 28; 12: 1, 2; Jeremiah 29: 11-13; Hebrews 12: 28).
None of this – the peace of Christ, the word of Christ, and gratitude to God – can dwell in our hearts at all if we don’t have the Spirit of Christ living in us (John 15: 5; 14: 15-21). He’s the one through whom we can experience and express true peace (Romans 8: 6).